Ring. Ring.

“SHUT UP,” I yelled at the alarm clock. This morning in New York City was definitely not a good one. Just yesterday a punk broke into the apartment my boyfriend and I have next to the Twin Towers and stole almost all my things. (Where I work.)

“Rebecca Ann Clark, it’s 8:40 A.M. right now,” said Matt Williams. We have been dating for five years to the date and today is 9/11, our anniversary.

“Well since I’m going to be late anyway I’ll just call my boss and tell him about the theft,” I said. Ted Freeman is my boss, and I told him how my stuff got stolen. He gave me the day off to go buy new things for my apartment. He is the best boss in the world.


After getting ready, Matt and I went out shopping and found all the things we needed for the apartment. We got all the furniture into the apartment when we heard it. The noise was unmistakable, an airplane. I don’t know why, but I was so excited thinking Matt was proposing with a plane that I ran outside, Matt followed closely. I daydreamed of becoming Mrs. Rebecca Ann Williams, Matt’s wife.

I looked up in the sky and saw I was wrong. That’s when the first plane hit the Tower. At that moment I thought about Mr. Freeman and went running for the Towers. Matt, thankfully, stayed behind to watch the terror unfold.

Running up those twenty flights of stairs to get to my office seemed to pass so fast. Before I knew it, I was standing in my boss’s office. He was collapsed on the ground, so I picked him up. All I remember after this is running down and out of the building with Mr. Freeman on my shoulders. Just as I walked in the door of our apartment and handed Ted to Matt, the Towers collapsed.

Since that day three years ago I have gone to schools telling kids this story. Ted and I are best friends and nothing will break the bond we formed when I saved his life. Also, Matt and I married four months after the attack. The President gave me, Rebecca Ann Williams, the medal of honor for my bravery and courage.